Hello and thank you once again for joining us on this path of Joy’s healing and recovery. Your prayers have had such an impact. We are thanking God from the bottom of our hearts for a dramatic improvement in the reduction and possible elimination of Joy’s vertical diplopia. While the right side vision cut is still very pronounced, the vertical diplopia has all but resolved, at least for most of the day, most days. So again, we thank and praise God and thank you for your faithful prayers on Joy’s behalf.
While our days continue with the usual therapy/therapy homework and daily responsibilities and activities, we’ve also had a chance to add more “normalcy” to life this past week. On Saturday we had a wonderful time going out to dinner with some very dear friends and today Joy had lunch out with two very special friends from her many years at Unity Hospital. Both events felt wonderfully “normal” and we are thankful for Joy’s gains and for friends that are so supportive that Joy’s aphasia and apraxia are hardly noticed, which is very encouraging to her. And, as I mentioned in my last post, we are eagerly anticipating our outing on Saturday to reunite Joy and her 96 y/o mother Ruth for the first time since the accident. Please pray for safe travels and health for both to be able to enjoy the time together.
Yesterday Alyx and Ethan joined us to help springboard Joy back into crocheting. While Joy returned to her knitting very quickly once Alyx demonstrated a couple of stitches and she had a baby hat partially completed that she was able to finish, without being able to read pattern directions and no partial projects to pick up again, crocheting had been on hold. Ethan’s demonstration for Joy of a couple of stitches was reminiscent of when Alyx demonstrated knitting. Joy watched Ethan do a few stitches and then took the crochet hook and was “off to the races.” A new afghan is well on its way (see pic).
This morning we saw a dermatologist regarding the spot on Joy’s scalp I had mentioned previously. The dermatologist performed a scape biopsy and so we are waiting on the results and follow up recommendations after that. Thank you for your continued prayers.
While we could not be more pleased with the improvement in Joy’s eyesight, her aphasia and apraxia remain a significant challenge. Joy does very well and seems to improve daily in conversation. But recognition and understanding of words both spoken and written is still very hard for her and I am learning that often in conversation, Joy may be nodding understandingly when she has no clue about what is actually being said. Recalling written words and even recognizing images or objects or understanding basic directions remains elusive to her. I want to emphasize that I am in no way minimizing the tremendous strides Joy has made and the many very real miracles that have taken place in our lives. But just from a personal safety standpoint, Joy’s ability to communicate who she is, what she needs, and where she lives is so important. I have all her emergency medical and contact information in the Medical ID feature of her iPhone, but I still want her to be able to advocate for herself if something were to happen to me in any setting we are in. So again, your prayers for comprehension, cognition, and healing of aphasia and apraxia are still earnestly needed.
Thank you never feels sufficient to express how grateful we are and how deeply we appreciate your traveling this road with us, but thank you nonetheless. We are confident that the many miracles we have experienced and are experiencing would not have been possible without your support.
